After watching Oxford and Lafayette's Girls Soccer teams play Tuesday, it has become quite clear many parents do not quite understand what makes an Impeding foul and what makes a Dangerous Play foul.

Both of those fouls appeared to have happened (and both against Lafayette, another against Oxford) during the course of the game. Here's why they were not fouls.

It is a very common misconception that a player playing the ball on the ground in an automatic foul. That is not true. In the situation Tuesday night, the player did play the ball on the ground. There was one problem: She had nobody around her.

The player playing the ball on the ground is only a foul if there is an opponent with the player and then attempts to play the ball. The reason is that the player playing the ball is threatening injury to either herself or the opponent by doing so. If there is no one around, it is not a foul, which is what happened Tuesday night.

Here is another that falls under "Dangerous Play". Almost everyone calls this a "High Kick". Here's a little known fact: not anywhere in the FIFA Laws of the Game or in any soccer rules do the words "High Kick" appear. This was the infraction Oxford appeared to have committed but was not called.

Much like the "playing on the ground" thing, it is only an infraction if it was done near a player - specifically a player's face. Really what the referee is looking for is how close the cleats are to the opponent's face. That requires the cleats to be facing the opponent as well. This is under the referee's discretion.

Here is the full rule on "Dangerous Play" as written in the FIFA Laws of the Game: (Note: This is similar to all levels of soccer)

Playing in a dangerous manner is defined as any action that, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player himself). It is committed with an opponent nearby and prevents the opponent from playing the ball for fear of injury.

A scissors or bicycle kick if permissible provided that, in the opinion of the referee, it is not dangerous to an opponent.

Playing in a dangerous manner involves no physical contact between the players. If there is physical contact, the action becomes an offence punishable with a direct free kick or penalty kick.

As one reads the underlined part, an opponent needs to be nearby for that type of foul to be committed. I don't think it can be clearer than that.

The last one is the "Impeding" foul. Many are misconceived that a player shielding the ball within playing distance until the goalkeeper can pick it up with an opponent trying to get to is impeding. That is not true.

​Here is the rule, word for word:

Impeding the progress of an opponent means moving into the path of the opponent​ to obstruct, block, slow down or force a change of direction by an opponent when the ball is not within playing distance of either player.

All players have a right to their position on the field of play, being in the way of an opponent is not the same as moving into the way of an opponent.

Shielding the ball is permitted. A player who places himself between an opponent and the ball for tactical reasons has not committed an offence as long as the ball is kept within playing distance and the player does not hold off the opponent with his arms or body. If the ball is within playing distance, the player may be fairly charged by an opponent.

In the third paragraph in the last quote, it reads "for tactical reasons". The tactical reason during the game for that one in particular was the player was shielding the ball - and not impeding the player by using her body or arms - to allow the goalkeeper to pick the ball up. Impeding with use of the body is when the player backs away from the ball. At that point, the player is playing the opponent and not the ball. At no point did the player play the opponent in that situation.

It is worth mentioning Oxford did the very same thing several times throughout the game shielding the ball to go out so that they would have a throw-in in the same manner, yet Oxford parents complained how the ball was shielded to the Lafayette goalkeeper.

I wrote an opinion article in the November 12th edition of the Oxford Citizen on refereeing. You can read it by following this link: ​http://oxfordcitizen.com/2015/11/13/soccer-referees-from-their-point-of-view/ In it, I posted how we are human. I also should point out that referees have to take a test in order to earn the USSF badge and pass it with 80% accuracy each year. For the NFHS test, there are two of them and both of them have to be passed with 80% accuracy as well each year. This would also point out that referees know more than any parent that attends the games, unless that parent has also taken these tests.

Parents and fans, you don't know as many rules as you think you know. That is the plain truth, as much as you don't want to hear it. I got into refereeing because I thought I can do a better job than the ones that was currently out doing the high schools games. I think I have made the sport of soccer better by getting into refereeing. I do wish more would get into refereeing and appreciate the job they do but especially the several of the teenagers that are out there doing the job. Parents running off those teenager referees are the ones that quit.

An example of one of the referees quitting - especially from a district that really couldn't lose referees - came last year in the Lafayette Boys Soccer first round of the playoffs. Lafayette had Amory and the Panthers eliminated the Commodores in large part because of the center referee's decision with two cards on one player who was Lafayette's best player. All the Lafayette fans came right to the area that the referees had to go through and gave him hell. That made him quit refereeing high school soccer for good. While he is still refereeing elsewhere, that is what makes the good referees quit. Some may quip that he wasn't "good" but it is like I said in the Citizen article I put up two paragraphs ago, we are human.

Don't try to preach the referees the rules. It is in high likelihood that you are incorrectly stating whatever made-up rule you think was broken. "Playing on the Ground" is not said anywhere in the rules. "High Kick" is not said anywhere in the rules. If you want to know the rules, instead of reading a book from your favorite author, go to the FIFA website and look-up/download the rules and interpretations. You may learn something and maybe even more than what I've written out here.

This past weekend was one I can remember for a while, which includes my first ever abandonment of a soccer match due to a refusal to leave the playing area when asked to a coach - one of three I had to toss for that day.

First, let's get to my first game of eight total Centers I had for this weekend out of 10 games that I did. I did not ask for more Centers but the assignor needed me to do a number this weekend. The first game, a U16 Girls Match, went rather dull as it was 0-0 after the first 50-55 minutes of play. Then the White team went on the attack, made a cross and right before the cross made it, the Red player tripped up White inside the Penalty Area to give a Penalty Kick to White. The White Coach argued the ball was not even in the Penalty Area - which even if it was true, that does not matter as it is where the foul occurs, not where the ball was at when the foul was made except for the matter that it was in play (which it was). The ensuing PK was successful to give White a 1-0 lead. Red proceeded to make an own goal to White about 8 minutes later to make it 2-0 which proved to be the final score.

My second Center - which immediately followed my first Center on the same field, a U15 Girls Match - wasn't as smooth as the game actually went. Green's team was called for two early fouls which got on me on the coach's bad side early. Red committed and was called for a couple fouls in the same half which the Green coach failed to notice before quipping about not getting a single call the entire match in the second half. He continued to quip about every action I had done to the point where he was not coaching the players anymore and just wanted to rant. It was a 0-0 match at that point and there really hadn't been many fouls or there were any fouls to call. Instead of coaching to find a way to score, he continued to quip until he said a magic phrase that pushed me over the edge. Using the ATD (Ask-Tell-Dismiss) method I went straight to the Tell part and said to him one more quip like that and he's gone. It wasn't but two seconds to test that threat out and I had followed through on the threat and sent him to the nearby parking lot where he stayed quiet for the remainder of the match, where the Green team fought to a 0-0 draw. The game was played "between the 20s" much of the match and offered very few scoring chances.

My third match was an AR spot for another U15 Girls match. It involved two Cincinnati teams. For those that know me well, I have family that lives in Cincinnati, so this was a fun match to see and - although frowned upon usually - talked to the coaches prior to the game about what part of Cincinnati each team was from. One was from the west end of the City, the other to the North along I-75. The team from the North struggled for a bit as it was 0-0 at half, but found their offense in the second half (helped with the wind that aided their kicks downfield) to what turned out to be a 4-0 blowout.

After having a break, my fourth match was the first of three really good matches I had this weekend that I had Centered. The Mississippi Flood (which is near Oxford) and the local Lobos team in a U14 Girls match. It was a game the Flood dominated 50 of the 60 minutes, but couldn't hold off an offensive assault by the Lobos which went from a 3-1 game to a 3-3 tie.

My fifth match was my first Boys match - a U17 Boys match - and I was supposed to Center this game, but switched with one of my assigned AR's to do the match instead. Lucky that I did that prior to who I knew who was playing - this Flood team had several members of the OHS Boys Soccer team on it. It would have been the most uncomfortable Center I would have ever done. As the AR for that match, I did not have to deal with much of it. The Flood lost to an Orange team 3-1.

The sixth and final match for Saturday involved a Blue U15 Boys team from Kentucky and a Red team from my state but not from North Mississippi. The first half went rather smoothly and the Red team scored at will, leading 4-0 at half. Blue was getting frustrated and much like many teams that get behind do, seem to blame the referee among any call that did not go their way. After I had called a pushing foul against Blue by means of using an elbow to gain an advantage to the ball, a Blue player dissented with a "soft foul" comment, earning him a Yellow Card. The Blue Head Coach started going out of his way and started to verbally assault me after asking why his player got a Yellow - after plainly point out that he dissented to the referee (the entire thing happened 25 feet infront of their bench), he proceed to say that does not earn a card and not in the rules (which couldn't be further from the truth). Again using the ATD method, I had to go through Ask and Tell before he finally stopped, using the same way I went this morning, I said one more out of that area and he was gone. Red team proceed to score off the ensuing free kick which didn't help matters. It was about three minutes later I had my rabbit ears going hearing yet another insult to my refereeing style from the Blue bench after a physical but legal play had been made and the ball had went out of play. I had made a 180 to their bench and told their coach to leave. He didn't oblige. After telling him a second time to leave and didn't do so, threatened to abandon the match with more than 12 minutes left of the 70 minute match. He finally left after a minute and constant warnings about when I was going to abandon the match - warnings I had followed through on all match. Later on in the game with about 3 minutes left, I had called a foul in favor of Blue - again infront of the Blue bench. Blue wanted a quick restart but rolled the ball on the ground and before the ball stopped, kicked it. I called it back as the ball had to be still for the kick to be legal and to be put in play. Their Assistant Coach completely overreacted to this and threaten him his tossing then continued on. After he continued on, I tossed him but he wouldn't budge. Seeing this same scenario happen just 10 minutes before, their team trailing 5-1, and just more than two minutes left, I abandoned the match.

This was reported to the Kentucky SRO directly. I cannot say as I do not know what happened after having this being reported what will happen to their coaching careers. I can't imagine he would be coaching much in his next tournament.

So after all that excitement I finally get into the hotel room at 9:40 PM, ordered Pizza, ate some of it, and slept.

My first match on Sunday was a U11 Girls Center, where a Black team defeated a White team 4-0 in a snoozefest. All four of my games on Sunday were Centers.

My second match dealt with the U12 Boys Oxford Team and the Lobos - an Oxford team I knew nearly every player on the team for. Unlike the situation with the U17 Boys match, I felt more comfortable refereeing this match as these kids were 11 and this was their only team they played on and not 15-16 years old and keep their stats for OHS Boys Soccer. After a competitive and action-packed but scoreless first half, Oxford used the wind to their advantage in the 2nd half - still blowing from yesterday - and earned a 2-0 win.

The third match pitted another U11 Girls Flood team and a Blue team. Blue controlled much of the match but only mustered out a 2-0 win. The Flood had their chances but couldn't convert any. It was a competitive game where I did not have to get involved much unlike the day I had Saturday.

The fourth and last match was a U11 Girls Final Match in a separate U11 Girls Bracket where a separate Flood team faced off against a Madison team in an all-Mississippi final. Madison team jumped ahead 1-0 in the first half on a PK after a slide tackle by the Flood from behind inside the Penalty Area prevented a possible scoring chance (and earned a Yellow Card because of all that). The PK was deflected by the keeper right back to the kicker who scored it. Some from the Flood peanut gallery wanted a Double Touch be called except that the ball was deflected by their Keeper which prevented the call from being made. Madison added a goal to make it 2-0 in the second half on a cross play that found the net before anyone else touched it. The Flood Keeper had gone out to stop the ball before the cross attempt was made but missed. The Flood found the back of the net with 3 minutes left to give themselves a chance at 2-1. Several injuries had forced stoppage time in the second half. With just under a minute left, a collision between a Flood attacker and the Madison Keeper occurred with both members going for the ball. The Keeper for a fraction of a second gained control of the ball pinning both hands with the ball to the ground before the Flood's foot knocked it free and proceeded before the attacker could stop herself to trample the Keeper injuring her inadvertently. Madison parents wanted a card from that which I could have given but did not show because with the game this close to completion and both players went in for the ball bracing for impact during the play. The Madison Keeper stayed in the game. She stayed down for two minutes and being the game as close as it is and with such importance added time to the end of this game to in my opinion insure a fair match with all 50 minutes being played. A furious rally ensued with the ball staying on the Flood's attacking end for the majority of that minute but couldn't push one through before time expired, giving Madison a much earned 2-1 win.

On the heels of one of my friends I made at ODP Camp over the summer starting his new blog (as a class assignment - which you can find by clicking HERE) about his adventures at the Disney Soccer Showcase in Orlando at Disney's Wide World of Sports, I've decided to go on ahead for you soccer nuts to write one about my past weekend in Memphis' SoccerElite Tournament.

I had to make the drive late at night Friday because I'm (still) always involved in High School Football. Luckily this might have been the earliest ending to a High School Football game that involved Oxford in years, ending at 9:35 PM. With as much passing as Oxford does on a regular basis than most high school teams do, games typically last longer than 3 hours. I managed to hit the road a little past 10.

I took the long way (I-55 route) to Germantown - east of Memphis - where the Tournament is held at beautiful Mike Rose Soccer Complex. One of if not the best complexes in the mid-south where you can fit 17 regulation-sized soccer fields and home to where the University of Memphis plays their soccer games at the Stadium Field.

I make it to my hotel, usually nice and to myself when I do tournaments in Memphis, without much difficulty on the roadways which is saying something when you are driving through Memphis traffic at any point. Rolled in and unpacked at 11:30 PM - oh, and I'm supposed to start Saturday with an 8:00 AM game with a 15-minute commute to the fields.

The hotel itself was unique. The beds actually faced the window with the TV within two feet of the bed. The room had a couch next to the window and your usual desk and chair at the far end of the room. Bathroom and sink was rather spacey for a hotel room. The only complaint I had with it is it did NOT come with free breakfest - and I was already on a budget (and a major reason why I decided to do this tournament). When I got to the fields Saturday, I did manage two bananas for breakfest. I did not manage to get to sleep until 1:30 and had to wake up in the 6:30 range to make it to the fields a 1/2 hour before my first game.

So after upon realization that Breakfest was not free and that Starbucks actually ran a store in the hotel, I make it to the fields a little after 7:30 (after getting behind a traffic jam). I was lucky I only had to walk 30 feet to my first game within the 17-field park and that my first three games were on that field - by myself. I had to do 3 U10 games on my own without the aid of AR's calling offside for me. Means more work for me. Another thing I did not factor much was the weather...

The entire summer, temperatures were stuck in the upper 80s and rarely reached above 90 in what has been an unusually cool summer in the mid-south. Saturday? Sunny and 94*F. In the mid-south, that's more like 100-105*F. I had to do 7 games in this heat that did not feature any clouds to break the heat.

After my first three games in which the third game featured a Yellow-what-should-have-been-a-Red Card for DOGSO 25 yards away from the goal (A girl held an opponent's arm sleeve to prevent a clear scoring chance) with her team up 6-2 late in the game. It should be a Red Card by the letter of the LOTG (Laws Of The Game), but I was not fixing to throw a red to an 8-year-old and then turn around to write out a red card report for doing so this early in the tournament. Common sense there was to show the card and explain why. She took it rather well and completely realized why the card was given - not for the foul, but for the purpose of the foul. I ended up giving the player the physical card as a keepsake having bought a new set last month.

My fourth game was a U13 Boys match at the Stadium Field as an AR. Was pumped about finally being able to do a match at the stadium field after having done several tournaments last year in Memphis but never was assigned a game in the stadium. We had to wait on the other AR for 10 minutes and started the match without him. The AR did show up 5 minutes later having to hustle from another field to make it there. The match was a rather low-scoring but one-sided 4-0 win for the local Lobos team over a Tupelo team.

I was starting to get beat in the heat after the fourth game, constantly finding water to drink. I had an hour break to get as much cold water in my system as I can before I did a U14 Girls Center. Having remembered what I learned about "foul selection" at ODP Camp, I spent much of the first half trying to set a tone in how I wanted this match called. There was one problem - I did not make one foul call the entire first half because it was as clean as my whistle. There was one offside call but that was it when it came to foul calls. White team led 1-0 on a breakaway goal late in the first half.

I started to become mentally fatigued in that the heat made me dehydrated. 6 minutes into the 2nd half, my AR (who is a Grade 7) and I stopped the match and I drained a cold bottle of water. I managed to make it through the match with minimal foul-calling and ended with a 2-0 White team victory after adding 40 seconds of stoppage time for my water break.

My sixth game of seven that I was assigned to do, I was an AR and the Grade 7 that found a cold water bottle for me to drink was the Center for a U14 Boys Match. In the middle of the first half, I drained a small Gatorade bottle that a Blue-team member generously gave up while being on the coaches side of the field. By the time halftime rolled around, I found myself drinking more water from the White Team who generously gave me some water. When the 2nd Half started and I made my first run down the field, my hamstring tightened up, hampering any agility and speed I had remaining to a turtle's pace. I had asked someone to call over a field marshal to radio the referee tent (where at this point was clear across the park) to get a referee to finish this match I was on and cover my 7th match I was assigned to do simply because I was clearly no longer capable to do the job that a referee is expected to do. It took around 7 minutes for the referee to get here. I finished the match on the Blue-team's bench who had a tent covering it drinking more water.

After a replacement was found to cover my last match, I went to a gas station (very slowly) and used about a quarter of what budget I had on Powerades (buying 6). Clerk there thought I was crazy but sold them to me the same after looking at my condition I was in. Managed to make it back to my hotel with a noticeable limp and into my hotel room. Took a cold shower and then laid on the bed to watch Michigan/Notre Dame. After draining half of the Powerade bottles, I slept through about 2/3rd's of the game, woke up, saw the end of the game, had a small dinner (leftover pizza) and drank more Powerade. Watched Sportscenter and slept getting around 9 hours of sleep.

Woke up Sunday, not 100% but much better than the state I was in yesterday. Figured it would be the same weather as yesterday, hot and humid. I was right - Sunny and 99*F, the hottest it has been all summer. Mandatory water breaks (to my relief) were issued to be taken in the middle of each half. Started the day with back-to-back U12 Girls Centers. One a group-play match, the other a consolation match. I had the same crew for both matches. Had a 5'9" blonde girl AR for both matches that would appear she would be 17 and starting her senior year in high school. Negative - she was 14 and just became a Freshmen. She has a dad that is 6'10" and would likely grow beyond 6' before she stops growing. You wouldn't know it by the way she looks and how she takes herself.

Anyway, the first match was rather one-sided. The white team could not ever find a way to control the ball after a pass; the blue team especially in the 2nd half kept complaining about several of my calls - one that ended in a Penalty Kick awarded to white after a blatant push with an elbow from Blue in a battle for possession. Most of the calls were the normal "pushing" calls and that their coach and parents do not understand what makes up a "pushing" foul. I was almost to the point where I had to tell the team that they were up 3/4-0 at the time late in the second half and to simply be quiet and let me do my job. Luckily White missed on the PK shot and Blue won 4-0 preserving the shutout (which they do not get an additional point for in the standings).

The second match was much more physical in a match that featured two "sister" teams (two teams from the same club). White jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead and clearly dominating the match capitalizing on several miscues from the Blue team. The Blue team seemed to gather themselves in what proved to be an interesting match. Blue managed to score 2 goals to give them a chance late to tie the match, but fell short in their efforts 3-2. Did not have to give a card despite all the physical play (a good amount of pushing, body positioning, shielding was the main areas of where the physical play came from).

In my third match - a U18 Girls Match, which I had to travel across the complex to get to within a 30-minute time span, I was AR1 (AR1 = lead AR, did the line on the coaches' side of the field) with Jeff Gilmore - who also went to ODP Camp with me from Mississippi - as the Center. It took about 15 minutes into this 60 minute match (shortened due to the heat) that the White team was going to make this as difficult as possible for us to get through. White trailed 2-0 at halftime and their frustration of their weekend (which they have lost every single match to this point I found out prior to the match) was getting to them, and the heat may have helped. White team seemed to be fouling nearly every other minute for something real stupid. White trailed 4-0 with 18 minutes left, and a blatant push knocking over a Blue-team member right outside my end of the Penalty Area generated a Yellow for Gilmore who has seen enough. The ensuing free kick was crossed over three times in the Penalty Area eventually hitting a White hand to which both me and Gilmore had a clear view of. I had just about got my flag up when Gilmore called for the PK without needing my help (To which Blue successfully scored on). During the water break, the White coach complained that he went on my signal of the handball that led to the goal which made it 5-1 at that point. Gilmore said it was his call which is what I thought the call was one he made on his own accord all along. White coach managed to get back to his bench without having to leave. Later on, it was 5-2 but with just 2 minutes left in the match, Gilmore called a PK for pushing as the White coach has had enough and nearly argued himself out of the match. I did not actually see the foul (it occurred on the other side of my Penalty Area I was on) and the way it was argued that White was not "Shielding" the ball - which is allowed when the ball is within playing distance. I thought impeding was called which if it was it would have resulted in an indirect free kick instead of a PK (PK is what is otherwise a direct free kick foul inside the Penalty Area). They scored that one in which made the final 6-2 in a clearly dominated game by the Blue team with their two forwards causing a lot of havoc that was a lot more trouble than the game was worth.

My final match was a U13 Boys Final in which I was also an AR1 for. A U12 Lobos team playing up had a familiar face on the team: Chris "Deuce" Vaughn who moved from Oxford to Memphis after his dad was fired when former Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt was fired and their family decided to move to Memphis where his dad currently works this past summer. Unfortunately his team lost 6-0 in an uneventful Final which saw his defense getting beat often and one of their players constantly keeping a forward in onside position making the keeper work way too hard to keep their team in the game. Most of the goals came late in the 2nd half after the Lobos were clearly becoming exhausted from the match.

So once that match ended and wrote all the information needed for me to get paid - which will be a check in the mail, I left and went straight back to that same gas station and got 4 more Powerades, drinking two before I even got out of Memphis, but made it back to Oxford with no problems.

Lesson learned this weekend: Check the Weather Forecast before setting out to do a Tournament. It will go a long way to surviving the weekend. Always be prepared for any soccer match - the mental fatigue goes both ways. I was just lucky I did not have that type of game when I was as fatigued as the players when I was Centering.